Potters, A History
by JmPotter
Summary: In which James and Lily begin to reveal their relationship to other students; In which Sirius flirts (a lot) with a pretty Ravenclaw
1. A Love Lost

Disclaimer: The First few chapters of this story aren't mine they belong to Aloha Moria of She never finished it three years ago… and I love it to pieces. So in response I am going to finish it how I see it ending.

Thank you for reading!

Chapter 1. Endings and Beginnings

And just like that, without any warning, Lily found herself pressed up against him, tangled up in him, practically melted into James, her best friend. His lips searched hers, his hands felt so warm and so tender on her back... oh how good it felt. But no, she thought, this couldn't be right, this had to be wrong... oh god...

"What about Remus?" she whispered to him, as he kissed her forehead. She didn't know what kind of answer she wanted from him, but what came next wasn't it.

"He said it would be alright." James answered, barely pausing before he gently nuzzled her neck.

"He said WHAT?" Lily whispered fiercely, tearing herself away. "Remus? He said that?"

"Yes." James replied, somewhat resignedly. He adjusted his now-crooked glasses and looked into her bright green eyes. They were alive with fury, pain and... could that be? With longing.

"But if it isn't alright with you..." he continued, looking down at the ground. " I'm sorry, Lily, I just thought... I didn't realize it was so serious between you and Lupin... I didn't even mean for this to happen tonight, it just sort of... well, you were so close and your hair just smelled so good..." He shook his head in disgust. "Listen to me, I sound like an idiot." He looked up at her, sheepishly but contritely. "I thought you might feel the same way, is all."

"Oh James," she said. "I do... I do, but I can't. I won't. I promised him... I told him I loved him." Seeing his surprise, she continued in a rush. "And I do! I love him! But... but James... I love you too, I think. I don't know. I'm very confused right now. I just need to talk to him." Her eyes flashed again, a sudden spark of hurt anger. "He really said it would be alright?"

"Yes. I asked him... I told him how I felt about you, and that it was eating me up inside, and so I asked him if... if I could talk to you about it, to see if you felt the same way." Lily gave him a look that plainly said, James, that was not talking.

"He as much as said that I could have you - said that things could never work out between you." Seeing the look on her face, he knew he had said the wrong thing.

"He... just like that? He said you could have me? As if I was his to just give away..." her voice shook with fury. She felt as though she had just been hit with the Cruciatus curse, right through her heart. And then she understood. "Oh... James... how could we have been so stupid?"

"Wait... what?" He looked at her, bewildered. She did not return his gaze.

"Don't you see... he doesn't think he's worthy of me. He never thinks he deserves anything... not your friendship, not my love... He always seems so grateful that anyone will speak to him, let alone love him. At least, I think that's it. I don't know why he doesn't believe he deserves anyone..."

"It isn't exactly that, Lily." James said gently, finally. He cupped her chin with his hand, stroked her cheek tenderly with his soft fingertips. "I mean, it is that, but it is more than that. I'm not the one who should be answering these questions though... perhaps you should see him."

He got up, stretching his long legs. "I think it was time I got to bed anyway. I'll send him down for you, though?" Lily nodded, puzzled, but thankful that James had understood. "Thanks for your help with that Muggle Studies essay, though." He looked at her meaningfully before adding, "Muggles are a lot more interesting than I had thought." He flashed her his wicked, lopsided grin, and turned to leave.

Lily blushed furiously, even though she was trying not to. Really, she thought. That James... always causing trouble, and yet... as she watched him ascending the stairs into the boys dormitories, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of something, a pang in her stomach. She looked at his hair, the jet-black locks messy as usual. She wondered if she had had anything to do with its current state, then realized she was glad that it wouldn't incriminate her. But she loved his messy hair, loved running her hands through it... wasn't that what had gotten her here in the first place? Too much touching of James. And why had he said that? More interesting than I had thought. Hah. Certainly now wasn't the time to be a flirt... but he had succeeded in lightening the mood, and for that she was glad.

Then her mind turned to Remus, and another thing that James had said. It would never work out between the two of you. Why not? It certainly seemed to be working... she shivered as she thought of the nights they had spent in front of the fire in the Gryffindor common room, how tender he had been with her, but how dangerously, deliciously close he always seemed to come to going over the edge and just eating her alive... he always seemed so embarrassed, so guilty afterwards. It was almost as though he felt had been doing something he wasn't sure he should be.

But she had wanted him to, much to her surprise. She had wanted his soft touches, his warm kisses... and more than anything, his quiet companionship, the silent gratitude in his eyes whenever she was near, as though he had somehow been the luckiest person in the world to count her as a friend.

"Lily?" a tentative voice called softly down the staircase, the same stairs that James had just ascended. But it was not James's voice.

"Remus." Lily said, quietly. "Please... come down. I've got to talk to you."

He slipped down the stairs, then came and sat next to her, in front of the slowly dying fire. Before he knew what was happening, he had his arms around her, clasping her tightly, and she was sobbing on his shoulder.

"You've talked to James, I suppose," she said miserably, hoping against hope that he hadn't told him what she had done, what they had been doing.

"Yes." He sighed heavily. "It's alright, Lily, I'm not upset with you. He told me that he had caught you by surprise, that almost as soon as it had started you pulled away and asked about me."

Lily smiled bitterly. This was not entirely true. It had been a good ten minutes of serious snogging before the thought of Remus had even entered her mind, but when it had, she had felt guiltier than she ever could have imagined.

"He was lying, of course, I could tell. He's not a particularly good liar, is he?" She shook her head no, feeling even more ashamed, but he continued. "It's still alright, though. I know... neither of you meant for anything to happen. You don't need to feel guilty."

She started to apologize, but he silenced her with a gentle finger to her lips. "I've been meaning to talk to you anyway, Lily, about us. We can't... we can't keep doing this, the way we have been."

"But... but why?" she whispered, her voice a strangled sob. She tried, and failed, to keep the tears in her eyes from spilling over.

"I could hurt you," he said simply. "And I don't want to do that."

"Hurt me?" she asked, confused. "Oh Remus, that's not a reason... I'm not afraid of what would happen if we were to have a falling out..."

"No, no, not that," he replied, a hint of a smile playing over his face. "I mean, I could really hurt you. I could kill you. And I'm afraid that one day, I might." He saw the puzzled look on her face. "I'm surprised you hadn't figured this out a long time ago, what with you being so smart and all... Lily. I'm a werewolf."

She gasped, but did not recoil. It made sense, in a way... that monthly illness... "Well... so what? I could help you... could look at books or something..."

"Please, Lily. Don't make this harder than it has to be." And she grew silent. "Every month, it becomes more than I can bear... have you ever noticed that the most... er... passionate encounters are right before I fall ill? I need the physical pleasure most right before I turn... I am dangerous to you, Lily, if we are close right before I transform. I have no control over what I do when I become a wolf. Every time, I swear to myself that I will never put you in that danger again... and I try, but I need it so badly, and you seem to want to give it to me..."

"Excuse me?" Lily interrupted, her tone no longer contrite. "You've been using me because you need physical pleasure?"

"No! No. Well, at first." he admitted. "But... it's so much more than that, now. I just... that seemed the best way to explain why I was a danger to you."

She looked up at him, clearly a bit miffed, but she accepted his answer. "I know you care about me, Remus. I'd be a fool if I didn't at least notice that."

"Do you love him, then?" he asked, suddenly changing the subject.

Lily was caught off guard. "Love him? Who?"

"James. Don't be stupid with me, Lily."

"Oh, right... well... I haven't really had enough time to think about it."

"Don't be daft. You've had five whole years and bits of a sixth to think about him. I know you think about him, you must. He's the most popular boy in the house..."

She glared up at him, suddenly angry. "Well, of course I love James, he's been like a brother to me. But if you suggest for one second that I ever had... had... designs on him, then you don't know me at all. I swear to you I never thought of James in that way until his lips were pressed firmly against mine." She held his gaze for a moment, challenging him to doubt her, and then she burst out laughing.

"Okay, you're right. Of course I thought of him. He's handsome, he's a Seeker, he's a Prefect, he has that hair... but I swear to you, this time for real, that not once after you kissed me that first night, did I ever think of him like that." She looked him resolutely in the eye and knew that he believed her.

"I knew that," he said, softly, gently. Then he asked her another question, one to which he already knew the answer. "Would you be happy with him? Tell me the truth now, don't try to spare my feelings. To be honest with you, if I can't have you, the only thing in the world that would make me happy is to know that you were happy, and I don't think you could find a better man than James."

Lily hesitated for a moment, but knew that she owed him the truth. She looked at him, bit her lip and hoped she wasn't breaking his heart. "Yes." she said, softly, "I don't know of anyone I can be with who would make me happier than James."

Remus stood then, turning away to hide the shining tears that had collected in his eyes. He cleared his throat. "Well then. I am happy," he said, and it was the truth, even if it was killing him now. "And tired. I think it is time to go to sleep. Shall I send James down for you?"

"Oh," Lily blushed. "I don't think that will be necessary, no. I'll talk to him tomorrow."

"Are you sure? Because I thought I heard him waiting on the stairs." At this, a lean, pale face peeked out from around the corner. "You're horribly noisy, Potter, you should have just asked to have the conversation with us."

"Oh, I couldn't have..." he looked down, embarrassed again. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. I just couldn't wait so long to find out if... well, if Lily... never mind." His face turned ten shades of pink.

"It's alright," said Remus, starting up the steps. "But if you could do me a favor," he whispered in James's ear, "could you at least wait until I fall asleep before you..."

James turned another twelve shades, this time of red. "Of course. I really don't think we'll...at least, not tonight..." But his friend was already gone.

Chapter 2. The Mirror of Erised

"Um... 'lo Lily," James said, ambling awkwardly over to the overstuffed chair in which she was sitting.

"'Lo, James," she replied, standing. Tall though she was, James was at least a head taller than she; and she had decided that she liked that. But she felt strange. Even though she knew that she was free to love him now, free to play with that irresistible mussed hair, wrap his tall frame around her and just snog him silly, it felt a bit odd to want to do that now, here, after she had just broken up with one of their best friends. She cleared her throat.

"Um, yeah. I was thinking... if you don't mind a bit of rule breaking..." he started, and she arched one eyebrow as if to say both 'I'm listening' and 'You can't be serious' at the same time. "Well... you see, I found this thing... it's rather interesting, actually... and um, I thought it might, ah, put you at ease."

"At ease?" she said, skeptically. Then she realized he felt just as awkward as she did, and decided to play along. "Hm. Sounds like it's worth a try... where exactly is this 'thing,' then?"

"Down the Potions corridor," he answered slowly, and Lily almost choked.

"Potions? James, you're not after me to try pot, are you?" He looked puzzled, and Lily realized that she was being a prat. Being a pureblooded wizard, James had probably never even heard of the intoxicating plant. "Never mind."

"What? No... it's more like... well, I'll just show you, shall I? Let me just dash upstairs to grab something..." He returned a few moments later with his Invisibility Cloak. She eyed it and couldn't help thinking how useful that could be later in the evening.

Lily clutched his arm as they made their way down the twisting corridors of Hogwarts, safely hidden under James's cloak. "Where did you get this, anyway?" she whispered to him. "I hear they're really expensive."

"Well... my father gave it to me as a present when I got my prefect letter. He said he was really proud of me, but that he knew me well. Actually," he said, with a bit of a twinkle in his eye, "he said that he knew me too well. I can just hear him, too... 'Now, James... prefects are supposed to be paragons of virtue, setting a good example to those under them. And I know you can't keep that act up all the time... so here. Whenever you're in the mood for a bit of fun... just use this so the ickle firsties won't be able to try and follow in your footsteps.'"

Lily smiled. "I see the penchant for a bit of naughtiness runs in your family, then?"

James grinned at her and replied, "Well, you don't think I just made all this up on my own, do you? Ah. Potions corridor... this way." He felt her snuggle closer to him under the cloak, and he began to relax. You see, she doesn't hate you, after all, he thought to himself. Just calm down and you'll be sure to charm the pants off her. Perhaps literally. Just the thought brought a smile to his face, until he realized that she was probably wearing a skirt under her robes. Oh well.

"Here we are," he said, checking quickly to make sure there was absolutely nobody around. "Alohomora," he whispered, pointing his wand at the door of a classroom. "Honestly, I don't even know why they bother putting these Muggle locks on the doors... even a first year could undo them." They slunk quietly into the classroom, shutting the door behind them.

"Okay," James said, suddenly nervous again. "It's the mirror I wanted to show you... I've heard it called Erised. D'you see that inscription 'round it?"

Lily peered around him, and read aloud, "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi... what's that mean? No, wait, don't tell me..." She stared at it, a slight smile playing about her puzzled face. "Not Latin... perhaps something scrambled... ah!"

"What?" James asked, clearly chagrined that she had figured it out in three seconds, while it had taken him closer to three months.

"It's something backwards. Ah... hmm. They're not organized into words properly, are they?... aha. I show not your face but your heart's desire." She looked up at him inquiringly. "Sounds peachy, James... are you trying to spy into my deepest secrets?"

"No, no, not at all. I just thought that maybe... if you looked in the mirror and saw me there... you wouldn't be so nervous. I mean, you'd know you were doing the right thing. Sometimes it helps me realize what it is that I really want... actually," he said shyly, "it's how I decided that I needed to... er... talk to you." She smiled up at him, tucking a lock of her dark auburn hair behind her ear, and he knew that for the first time that evening, he had done something right.

"Well, I'll just take a look then, shall I?" she said, lightheartedly. Deeper down, she was worried. Would he be able to see what she was seeing? And what if - God forbid - she saw Remus? Then she could never... but she decided she had better look.

"You have to stand in front of it properly for it to work," he whispered to her, then paused, apparently sensing her anxiety. "Don't worry, I won't be able to see what you see."

She laughed inwardly, thinking, Oh, James, you know me too well. She cleared her throat and looked up into the glass, and was rather startled at what she saw shimmering before her. She was standing next to James - thank god she was seeing his face - oh but they were so much older! In front of them stood a boy, he must have been... nine? Ten? No older than eleven, she thought, he could barely pass for a first year. And he looks just like James did when I first met him. Same hair, same face... but he has my eyes, imagine that! She was delighted. But what's this? On his forehead? Some kind of scar... odd.

The surface of the mirror sparkled and the image changed. She saw herself, younger again, smiling up at James... the boy was gone now... they held each other tightly, kissed, and then... oh goodness, what was Mirror James doing? She had to avert her eyes.

"James!" she giggled... "James, I see you in the mirror but... oh my. I can't watch, it's a bit embarrassing." She held her hand to her mouth to stifle another giggle, but her eyes twinkled above. "Maybe you better have a look."

He gulped. "I think I better not. Might give me ideas, you know?" He grinned at her, encouraged by what she had apparently been watching. He could only guess at what Lily had seen, but from the scandalized (but pleased) expression on her face, he had some idea.

"James." She said it as though it was an invitation, and he decided he would take it. "There's something I want to show you, too." She undid the silver hooks down the front of her robe, revealing the standard Hogwarts uniform - pleated grey skirt, white blouse and a scarf around her neck in Gryffindor colors. But it looked as though she had outgrown the skirt years ago - it ended about five inches above her knees... and that blouse seemed awfully tight...

She looked at him alluringly, then said (in her most innocent voice), "I've been wondering if the Alohomora charm works on buttons, too?" Before he had the chance to take out his wand, though, she had hers out, and was pointing it at his cloak. "Alohomora!" Sure enough, the hook undid itself. "Expello amiculum!" The cloak slid to the floor. She giggled at him, then pointed her wand at each of his shirt buttons in turn. "Alohomora. Alohomora. Alohomora." And they each came undone. "Now," she said, thoughtfully, "Expello subucula!" His shirt went flying across the room, and he stared at her, his mouth gawping open. "Oh, and one last thing... Expello vitreus!" His glasses flew delicately across the room, landing safely on his robes.

She looked at him reproachfully. "James... I know you do well in Charms class, but I fear you're getting dreadfully behind in their practical application."

"Alright... Accio Lily!" he whispered, and she glided across the room and into his waiting (and now bare) arms. "But can you blame me if I like to do certain things the Muggle way?" He bent his head down to meet hers, and their lips met in a soft, sweet kiss that sent Lily into paroxysms of delight. "Besides," James continued, gazing happily into her eyes, "It's awfully hard to do spells when you've had your breath taken away."

Chapter 3. The Good Friend

On the sixth years' floor of the Gryffindor boys' dormitories, Remus Lupin lay awake, his alert ears struggling to hear any signs of Lily and James below. But what were the chances that they were even in the common room? James had come up quietly and made off with his Invisibility Cloak... he had assumed that he'd wanted it simply for cover, but from the absolute silence below, it seemed that he and Lily had gone elsewhere to talk. Or to do other things, he thought darkly.

Remus had never been the type of person to be jealous, or angry with his friends; indeed, he knew that if it hadn't been for James's kindness, he never would have lasted until the first Christmas holiday. But it seemed unfair, somehow. James had everything. His family was rich, he was handsome, he was athletic, he was smart, he was funny and well liked by almost everyone... and the worst of it was, he was genuinely, absolutely nice about all of it. Many of the other boys at Hogwarts were similarly blessed with looks, money and smarts, but they were all obnoxious prats because of it. Not him, though. Unrelentingly polite, sweet and kind - those were the adjectives you would always choose to describe James Potter. Even though six dozen other, equally positive adjectives would be just as accurate.

He knew it was stupid of him to be jealous. After all, everything he had told Lily was true, and he'd been horribly selfish for putting her in danger just to satisfy his lustful cravings. But who had reminded him of it? James. Of course. After James had accidentally stumbled across him and Lily in front of the Gryffindor fire... he remembered the conversation well.

James had been so upset with him, so furious. "Remus, what were you thinking? You could have killed her! What if you had turned as you were nuzzling her neck, huh? You could have bitten her, turned her into a wolf too! You would have had to watch her suffer through the same thing that you suffer every month... is that what you want? And that isn't even the worst thing that could have happened. You could have attacked her! She could have died." Remus remembered feeling ashamed, so ashamed, as he watched James's chest heaving with frustration, even a little bit of fear - he had never seen him upset like that before. James had been right, of course, he was always right. But Remus had argued anyway.

"I would have told her to leave if I felt close to changing, I'm not that stupid. And besides, do you have any idea what it's like for me, before I have to change? It's like... everyone becomes an object of lust. So many teenagers crammed into one place... it just reeks of hormones, it reeks of sex, and it's all I can do to keep my hands off of the closest person I see. Hell, I almost went after Snape tonight." He spat the name out as though it were a dirty word. "Can you even imagine what that's like?"

James shook his head. "Of course I can't. I'm not saying I can. But that doesn't matter... what matters is, you're putting Lily in the most serious danger. I know" - at this his voice dropped to a whisper - "that it must be horrible to be a werewolf. It's painful, it's frightening. I understand that. But you can't do this to her, no matter what you're suffering through." He stopped, weighing his words carefully. "I know that you care for her, and if you were to hurt her... well, I imagine the pain of that would be even worse."

"Chuh," he had said. Inwardly, he had been floored, James's words had hit home for him. But he couldn't let it go, not just yet, anyway. "Come off it, Potter... you're just jealous."

"Jealous?" His face had reddened, whether more from embarrassment or anger, Remus could not tell. But he had to press it further, tried to make matters worse...

"Yeah. You're jealous because Lily loves me, not you. You've always gotten everything you want, and now here's something that you can't have. Everyone's always liked you best, but Lily picked me. And I suspect that's not the only thing you're jealous of. You're jealous because I get to touch her, to kiss her, and that's something you'd very much like to do. I think you just want to see us apart, so you can go after her yourself."

He had stood there for a moment, as if he'd just had the wind knocked out of him. After a few long minutes of complete silence, he finally spoke. "Is that really what you think?"

"Yes," he had answered, somewhat defiantly.

His voice quavered, not with anger, but with hurt. "Well then, I'm sorry I haven't given you a better account of my friendship. Because that is not what I am after. I want you to be happy, I truly do. I just don't want to see Lily get hurt. She's my friend, too."

He had sighed, heavily, then. Why couldn't James just yell, be upset, want to kick things, want to fight him? Why did he always have to be right? And why, oh why, did he always have to be so sodding nice about it? "Of course," he said quietly. "I know. You're right. I'll break it off with her, I'll tell her that we just can't..."

"You might try telling her the truth, Remus. I think she's quite capable of handling it."

He had looked up at him, stricken. It was one thing to break it off with her, but who knew how she would react if he told her the truth? It would be hard enough to live without ever holding her in his arms again, but it would be much harder - no, impossible! - to live without her friendship.

"Maybe," he had said. They sat in silence for a few minutes, not needing to speak to eachother, not really. He had wanted to apologize so badly, to tell James that he was a truly wonderful friend, but found that he could not. "I'm... I'm really actually glad you caught us. You were right. I'll tell her," was the closest he could come.

He had meant to tell her, really. But here he was, almost a year later, and he had not been able to. Yeah, Gryffindor courage my arse. He couldn't tell her, and so he had let it continue, the torturous cycle of loving her and hating himself for it, of needing her and knowing that he could never truly have her.

It had gotten more serious, which only tormented him all the more. He knew that she loved him; she showed it in more ways than he would have believed possible. But even this couldn't make him happy, because deep down he knew that he never should have let it get this far. He would never, ever be allowed to love her the way any normal man would, the way she deserved.

And it was all because of a stupid animal bite, from when he had been barely old enough to read. It was enough to make even the sweetest of sixteen-year-old boys bitter.

To be fair, James had never nagged, had never spoken to him again about it, but every time he saw them together, he gave him that look that so plainly said, "Please... you know you can't keep doing this."

And then, when even this had not worked, he had come to him with something even more painful. Unwillingly, Remus remembered the night that James had finally admitted to him that he wanted to be with her. If that first night's conversation had been bad, this one had to be a trillion times worse.

"Remus... I've thought a lot about what you said... you know, about me being jealous of you and Lily..."

And he had told him it was okay, even that it would be better that way. It was all easy enough, in his head. You know you can't have her. It will be easier, really, if she's with someone else... you won't have to watch her suffering because of her love for you. She'll be happy, and you'll be able to move on. Secretly, of course, he had hoped she would reject James, would tell him that it she could never be with anyone besides him... but who was he kidding? This was James, nobody ever rejected him. Their names even sounded good together. James and Lily. Lily and James Potter. Lily Potter. He wanted to cry.

At least you know James will be good to her. He will be so good to her, and they will be so happy, and they'll forget all about you... He knew, of course, that this wasn't true. They were both such good people, they would never forget about him. They could never forget their friends. They would always stand up for them, stand up for what was right... and again, Remus thought about how this only made it harder, in a way. He couldn't be mad at them. And yet... he should be allowed to vent his feelings, let loose this anger and pain that had boiled up inside of him. But he couldn't, because he knew that his friends were really the best people he knew, and that he should be happy for them.

But it's not FAIR! She chose ME first! ME! I should be the one she's with right now, I should be touching her creamy skin and kissing her soft lips and running my hands through her hair. It's not FAIR! Why can't I ever have ANYTHING? And before he knew what he was doing, Remus Lupin was howling at the night sky, hot tears streaming down his face, and a misery unlike anything he had known filling his heart.


	2. Bad Moon Rising

Disclaimer: The First few chapters of this story aren't mine they belong to Aloha Moria of She never finished it three years ago… and I love it to pieces. So in response I am going to finish it how I see it ending.

Thank you for reading!

Author notes: PLEASE REVIEW! i will love you all if you do! 

Bad Moon Rising

Lily Evans awoke with a start, beads of sweat forming like ominous dewdrops on her unusually pale brow. "James! James?" She looked around wildly, gasping, her head throbbing. "Got to find James. Got to warn him... oh God." And with that, she fainted dead away, back into a too-silent slumber.

"Cripes, Lily, you look like hell this morning." Ah, the always sweet greeting of Sirius Black.

"Thanks, Sirius, you look like death warmed over yourself."

"No, seriously... you look like you didn't sleep a wink last night. Up late studying for the N.E.W.T.s again?" He looked at her, for all the world looking like a concerned father figure, then elbowed Peter Pettigrew, who was sitting on his left. Pettigrew jumped about six feet in the air as Sirius chuckled, "They're only, what, eighteen months away? We better get cracking..."

"No, actually," Lily said, her voice a bit steelier than usual. "I slept perfectly well. Perhaps a little less than I usually do... ow!" She suddenly put a hand to her forehead.

"What? What is it?" This time Sirius's concern was real. "Are you okay? Is something wrong?"

"Oh, just a headache... nothing to be concerned about. At least, I don't think so..."

"Do you think you should go to the Infirmary? Pomfrey'll probably give you something to make it go away..." Peter suggested in his thin, reedy voice (which Lily had thought, on more than one occasion, perfectly matched his thin, reedy frame).

"It's probably nothing. Really. I appreciate your concern and all, but..."

"Well maybe if you eat something then. Let's go down to breakfast, I'm sure a nice cold glass of pumpkin juice would do you a world of good, and maybe you could have some toast too, to settle your stomach, and..." As Peter prattled on about all the food that would help her headache, she silently debated telling him that the best cure, at least at this point, might simply be for him to shut up. "... and d'you know what my mum always gives me when I have a headache? Chocolate Frogs!"

"For breakfast?" Lily said in mock horror. She was trying not to sound impatient, but she was very glad to be able to interrupt. "Peter, honestly. I usually don't have anything heavier than fruit, I think it would just make things worse... besides, we don't have all that much time before class, and I'm hardly hungry right now as it is."

"Oh." His face fell. "Well, it was just a suggestion, you don't have to take it of course, but..."

"Good morning, Lily. Did you sleep well?" Oh, sweet relief, in the form of James Potter. Thank God.

James cuffed the smaller boy playfully about the head. "Peter, you git, I thought you were supposed to wake me up after you were done in the shower. Making me choose between smelling bad and going off to class hungry... I'll hardly have time to eat before Potions."

"Oh, we were just headed down to breakfast, actually," said Lily, headache suddenly fading away. "Let's see if we can find a little something to eat before class."

James looked at her dubiously, and flashed her a glance at his wristwatch. The lone hand was already pointing at "You're late!"

"Please, James, you know if Cinna hears your stomach grumbling he'll give you three times as much homework as he normally does, probably have you write a five body-length scroll on appetite shrinking potions or something." The two were already halfway down the corridor before she turned around, oblivious to their looks of disbelief. "Sirius, Peter, aren't you coming?"

The four arrived in Potions class with barely a second to spare, Sirius just managing to stuff his last piece of toast in his mouth as they entered the dungeon. Lily and James slid into an open bench near the back of the classroom, and quickly took their books out, hoping to look as though they'd been there ten minutes early when Professor Cinna came in.

Sirius, meanwhile, smooth-talked his way into an open seat next to Elisabeth Norris. Elisabeth was a rather pretty Ravenclaw who was constantly challenging James and Lily for the honor of best grades in the sixth year. So far, she had also been one of the few girls in their year who had yet to succumb to Sirius's charms, but he'd been working for some time to change that. From the look on her face, he had either just asked her for the answers to last night's homework, or had told her a rather dirty joke.

Peter, who had practically been running to keep up with his rather more long-legged friends, huffed and puffed into the only other open bench, where he usually sat with Remus. But Remus was nowhere to be found.

Lily would have noticed this, had she not had her nose buried in her extra-credit reading ("From Asphodel to Zephyr's Tail: Exceptional Draughts from Everyday Ingredients"). However, she did not become aware of his absence until Professor Cinna made his entrance. It was the first thing he noticed.

"Ah, Mr. Lupin has not cared to grace us with his presence today." He flicked his dark grey eyes over to the lunar calendar that hung on the wall for just a moment. "Odd... I had expected him today."

This vaguest of references was enough to make James cringe. "You'd think he'd be a little more careful," he muttered to Lily under his breath. "You know Remus could be kicked out in a flash if any of the students found out and told their parents."

"I'm sorry, how rude of me to interrupt while you're talking, Mr. Potter. Did you have something to share with the class?" His front teeth, both silver (nobody knew why, and nobody had the courage to ask, either), twinkled as he smiled malevolently at James.

"Oh, no, Professor Cinna," James replied smoothly, "I was just asking Miss Evans if she knew whether beetle's eyes were an important ingredient in every shrinking potion, or just the ones we've been studying."

"And what did Miss Evans tell you?" Cinna said icily, the smile fading from his face. He knew that if anyone in the class - besides him, of course - knew the answer, it would be that damn Evans girl.

"I hadn't answered him yet, Professor," she said quietly, trying not to laugh at James's swift and rather clever lie. "But no, there are a few rare ones where the shells are used, rather than the eyes."

"Very good, Miss Evans. Five points to Gryffindor for your impressive knowledge of shrinking potions." Lily smiled. "And five points from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter, for speaking out of turn." James turned to Lily and shrugged. He had managed to avoid a net loss of points; that had been his goal. He knew that Cinna disliked him immensely, but at least he was fair when it came to giving and taking from the House Cup.

"Now that you all know so much about shrinking potions, we're going to move on to restoration and engorgement potions. I know you've all probably learned the Engorgement Charm quite some time ago, but there are some subtleties that make these potions preferable to the charm, in some cases. Can anyone tell me why?"

Both Lily and James had their hands in the air - as did several of their classmates. "Yes, Miss Norris, do you have the answer for us?"

"I think so, Professor. Is it because one can tailor potions to the particular item to be enlarged?"

"Yes, that's it. Very good." Sirius winked at her, as if to congratulate her. Elisabeth rolled her eyes. "Now, today I'll have you mixing a rather elegant potion for the engorgement of these ladybugs, I expect that you all have some shrinking potions remaining from last week, yes?" A few students murmured; James nodded carefully, wondering how much shrinking potion an 8-foot ladybug might require. "Alright. You should have all the ingredients you need, the instructions are on the board, as well as in your text, page 671, I believe. Get to it."

The class worked in silence, initially, but after a few minutes, conversations began to break out here and there. "Good job you're a potions genius, Lily. I shudder to think of the consequences of losing another five points for Gryffindor this week." James's deep brown eyes twinkled rather merrily, and Lily returned his impish grin.

"Yes, well, good job I had just read that two days ago."

"Nah. I knew the answer anyway, if you weren't piping up, I would have told him you'd given it to me."

"Cheeky."

"You know it." He brushed her forearm lightly with his fingertips as he reached over to weigh out some dried nettles. "Ooh, did it say to add the nettles before the frog brains, or after?"

"Before," Lily answered, a bit flustered from his touch. He winked. "James..." she lowered her voice. "I really don't think it's such a good idea to be doing this in class. At least not in this class. Cinna could try something tricky with a love potion..." she shuddered. "Or even a truth potion. I'd hate the whole class to hear an exposition on what we did last weekend."

"Good point." James promptly slid himself, and all of his things, over to the far end of the bench. Lily smiled weakly and he slid back. "What's wrong, Evvie?"

Her smile grew broader at the pet name, but not much. "Oh... nothing really. I'm just a little worried about Remus, is all. It's not like him to miss class. I mean, not any more than he has to, of course. D'you think something's wrong?" She grimaced as she scooped a spoonful of the frog's brains into the bubbling, deep orange mixture that was boiling in the cauldron. "We have to take this off the heat in five minutes, can you do me a favor and conjure up a little timer while I clean my hands?"

James pulled out his wand, casting a quick series of spells. "Existo momenti!" - a wispy, smoky clock materialized in front of them - "Quinquies!" -set itself for five minutes past twelve - "Reverso momenti!" - and promptly began keeping time backwards. "All set." He sighed. "I'm really not sure what's wrong with Remus... he seemed healthy enough yesterday. But if it's something else, then I wouldn't know, as he hasn't really been talking to me for a few days now."

"What do you mean? He's been perfectly nice to you. We all eat dinner together, remember?"

"Sure, but have you noticed he hasn't been talking directly to me if he can help it? And anytime we're alone together... he's like a bloody brick wall. You'd have better luck asking Sirius, I think... honestly, you'd have better luck asking Peter."

Lily's eyes widened. Peter would know what was going on better than James? That was saying something. "Well, I will ask Sirius, then. Keep an eye on this for a bit, will you?"

"Naturally." He sighed inwardly, watching her graceful stride across the classroom. He was almost surprised at how quickly she had blossomed into the girl of his dreams. He remembered meeting her in Diagon Alley - her gorgeous hair and startling eyes had caught his attention even then, but she'd been a bit gangly for his taste. Now, of course, she had filled out a bit, and in all the right places. He knew he hadn't been the only one to notice that... she was still on the tallish side but very slender - he often joked that her wand was made of willow to match her build. In some ways, though, she reminded him of a doe. He found that rather ironic, given his Animagus form, but he wondered if somewhere, in his subconscious, she hadn't figured into the animal he thought he'd most like to be.

He liked to think that he'd had a hand in her maturing personality, too - she'd grown from a shy, rather bookish girl to a witty, playful young woman, and James fancied that letting her in on some of the Marauders' pranks (those she was not the target of, anyway) had something to do with it. She'd gone from study buddy to best friend to... did he really want to think this?... practically his soulmate. And being with her now... he smiled. There was only one thing that could be better, and that was being with her and NOT having one of his closest friends livid with him.

He sighed, then looked up at the timer he had conjured. Oops, almost time to take this off the fire...

Lily approached the bench that Sirius and Elisabeth were sharing, trying not to laugh at the effort Sirius was putting forth in getting the clever Ravenclaw's attention. "Oops, I seem to have dropped these frog brains on your robe, here, let me clean them off..." he bent down, as if to wipe something off her leg. Lily cleared her throat loudly and he jerked his head up, banging it on the bench in the process.

He roared in pain, letting loose a string of curses that would have made a sailor blush. As it was, he elicited a "MISTER Black, I will kindly thank you to keep your baser thoughts to yourself..." from Cinna.

"Sorry, Professor." He rubbed his forehead. "Son of a Slytherin, that smarts." He grinned, noting that he had finally succeeded in getting a giggle from Elisabeth. "Can I help you, Miss Evans?"

She was direct. "Sirius, why isn't Remus in class today? And why isn't he talking to James?"

"Which one first?"

"Either."

He frowned at her. "Alright, well, second one's easiest, I can answer in one word: You." She arched one delicately shaped eyebrow but said nothing. "First one... well, seems a bit of a mystery. He wasn't in bed when we left the tower this morning, I assumed he'd just gone to breakfast early or something. Wasn't a surprise that he wasn't at breakfast, since we were so late... but I thought for sure we'd see him here."

Well, you're no help, Lily thought, a bit irately. "He didn't mention anything out of the ordinary yesterday? No hints of a prank, perhaps?"

"Not a word. Besides, you know Remus, even if he was planning a trick, he'd probably keep it to himself. Especially as it's would probably be on you and James."

Her heart sank. "He's really that upset?" She hadn't meant to cause such a rift, but then what had she expected? It was bad enough to go off snogging someone who wasn't your boyfriend at the moment, worse if he was your boyfriend's best friend, and infinitely worse if your boyfriend was already prone to bouts of self-loathing due to his lycanthropy. Honestly, she thought, dating at Hogwarts was next to impossible... then, she gasped.

Sirius looked at her, horrified, apparently thinking the same thing she was.

"Oh God. We've got to find him."


	3. The Astronomy Tower

Disclaimer: The First few chapters of this story aren't mine they belong to Aloha Moria of She never finished it three years ago… and I love it to pieces. So in response I am going to finish it how I see it ending.

Thank you for reading!

Author notes: PLEASE REVIEW! i will love you all if you do! 

Astronomy Tower

"Um, excuse me, Professor ... I know we've still got half an hour left of class but I've forgotten I was supposed to go see Professor Estrella and it's really important that I talk to her right away. May I be excused?" Lily looked up at Professor Cinna, hoping that he would allow her to leave the classroom. And, she thought, it would be even better if he gave me a slip to get up to the Astronomy tower.

"What is so important that you can miss a third of my class?"

She looked at her feet for a moment, trying to remember the exact story Sirius had conjured up for her - he had anticipated that Cinna wouldn't let even Lily go without a water-tight explanation, and he was widely accepted to be the best excuse concocter in their year, if not in all of Hogwarts.

"Well, she'd asked me to do a star chart for her, I guess she thinks there might be a really rare sort of alignment this week, but she didn't have time to do out all the sectors, so she asked me to help her. She said it was important that she have it today so she'd be able to reckon it with her charts, and I was running late this morning and completely forgot. It shouldn't take too long, I hope." He looked at her skeptically, and she continued. "I'll do all the makeup work, I promise."

"Yes, I'm sure you will, Miss Evans, but in Potions the hands-on experience is of equal importance with the reading." She frowned, wondering what she could do if he wouldn't let her leave. Seeing that she was worried - though not knowing the real reason for her anxiety - he took on a slightly softer tone. "Well, let's see this chart that's so important."

She reached into her satchel and quickly produced last night's Astronomy homework, which (oh, Sirius, you genius!) was a carefully plotted diagram of the Ursa sector over the next two weeks. She wasn't sure if he would let her leave even if he did believe her story, but she knew that he would accept the chart to be what she said it was. It was well known - by Sirius at least - that Cinna had little experience in Astronomy.

"Very well then, you may go. But I expect a two-foot long scroll on MEMORY potions for class on Wednesday!" He had to shout after her, because Lily was already gone.

Her chest was heaving as she ran, fast as her long legs could carry her, across the (thankfully, empty) corridors of Hogwarts. Beads of sweat dripped into her hair, matting it down, but she hardly noticed. Her lungs burned as she raced up the stairs to the Astronomy tower, hoping desperately that she had run fast enough. Flinging the door to the small, round chamber that marked the highest point of Hogwarts, she felt that she might faint at any moment.

Her eyes widened in relief as she saw Remus sitting on the floor of the tower. He was feeding a nightingale some bits of what looked like week-old toast. "Remus... thought you... I was so... are you okay?" She gasped out the words.

He stared at her as though she had grown three heads, but a slight smile played across his lips. "In better shape than you, I would think. Aren't you supposed to be in Potions right now?"

"Yes," she wheezed. "But then... weren't there... and I thought... oh God... need to breathe..." She sat, panting, for a moment, attempting to catch her breath as she went on. Remus said nothing, just looked at her with a mixture of admiration and amusement.

Lily exhaled deeply and then continued, her words tumbling out in a pained rush. "Well, I was worried when you weren't in class, at first I thought maybe you were in the infirmary or something, so I asked James if you had been feeling well and he said he had no idea, so I left him to tend the potion and I went to ask Sirius if you were okay, and he said he hadn't seen you all morning, and that you were probably just playing a prank on James or something, and then I thought, oh no, I hope I haven't brought him down that much, and then something just clicked and I thought..."

He looked at her, almost annoyed. "And so naturally you thought I was about to fling myself from the turrets?"

"Well... sort of, yes." She looked at him, again biting her lip. "I know it sounds stupid, and I don't mean to flatter myself or anything, but after James said you hadn't been talking to him at all and Sirius told me you'd been taking all this really hard..." her voice trailed. off. "I just know sometimes you tend to get a bit down on yourself, is all."

He smiled at her. "Well, that's true, I suppose. But no, I just felt that I had to get away from Gryffindor Tower for a while... I came up here last night. Borrowed James's cloak actually. Don't suppose he noticed?"

Lily shook her head. "He seemed to be in a bit of a rush this morning, I guess Peter forgot to wake him up?"

Remus laughed. "Oh yes, that was my fault." She looked at him unbelievingly. "I put a Forgetfulness charm on Peter last night... come on, Lily, he stole my girl. You wouldn't begrudge me a little revenge, would you? I think that's pretty benign, as far as vengeance goes."

"Oh, well, I suppose." She flushed - a difficult feat considering that her cheeks were already flaming red from her sprint across the castle. And then she smiled. That sort of subtle trickery was just up Remus's alley. "But why'd you skip Potions? And breakfast, for that matter?"

"Well, the gods have a sense of humor," he said, wryly. "Cast a forgetfulness spell on Peter to make James late, then I oversleep and miss class myself." She laughed, flashing him another bright smile, and they sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes. "I'm glad you came looking for me, Lily." He gave her a gentle smile and put his hand over hers. And, although she knew it could only make things more complicated, she didn't move it away. Her heart beat a little faster.

"Me, too."

She had made up her mind to talk to James as soon as possible. She played out several conversations in her head, carefully plotting out what she wanted to say, what he would answer, what she would say in return, what he might then reply. James, I've been thinking, and I'm not sure we're being fair to Remus. Yes. That was an acceptable way to start.

But Evvie, darling, whatever do you mean? He said he was fine with it. That conjured up a picture, in her imagination, of James in a ridiculous evening jacket, puffing away at a pipe. No, he would never say that. What would he do? Hm. Probably smile, a bit confused, not quite realizing where the conversation is headed. She could just picture the look on his face. What do you mean? Ah yes. Short and sweet, just the thing he'd say.

Well, - and now here came the harder part - I'm not sure if I've really made up my mind between the two of you. No, no and no, she couldn't say that, there was no chance he could take that in a positive way. I've just been thinking that now probably isn't the best time for us to be starting a relationship.

His face would crumble. Oh, I see. Yes, this would be hard. She didn't really want to do this, did she? You've got to, Lily, she told herself. You don't want to string two boys along. First off, it's not particularly like you, and second off, it's not a very nice thing to do. Damn it all. She certainly didn't want to lose James, he was a wonderful friend and, so far, had made a wonderful boyfriend as well. But deep down in her heart of hearts, she knew she still felt something for Remus, as well. The trouble with this was, of course, that she would probably spend so long trying to decide which of them she loved more that she would end up losing them both. If only there was some way around it, some way to put off the decision, some way to see Remus and James... but in the end she knew she would do the right thing. The angel on her right shoulder would overcome the devil on her left, it always did. Wasn't that what kept her life so boring?

Okay, that part should go well enough.. But now what? At this point, she supposed she could prattle on about how there was so much schoolwork to be done, and how she hated to see herself coming between two such good friends, and how she wasn't sure that she wanted to start a relationship so close to the end of school, as there was the summer to think about, and did she really want to be tied down after Hogwarts graduation? She'd thought of becoming an Auror - the Dark Arts seemed to be experiencing a frightening growth with the fairly recent rise of Voldemort - and that was no career if you were thinking of starting a family, of living with loved ones. She sighed. She didn't want to annoy him with foolish babble, but it was either that, or an awkward silence before she excused herself to go to her dorm, or to the library, or something. Alright, then, inane chatter it is.

Sirius and James walked down the Hogwarts corridors to Arithmancy, one of the few classes that they did not share with their three friends. "Lily wanted to apologise to you for leaving Potions without telling you where she was going," Sirius said, in a tone of voice that James recognised. It was the one he used when he wanted to be sneaky about something, but James was in no mood. His engorgement potion had worked almost too well, and he'd had to wrestle a giant ladybug without the help of a partner. He'd gotten two points taken from Gryffindor for failing to have his wand out, ready to charm the giant insect into submission (practically canceling out the three points he had earned for having the most successful potion in the class). A stupid oversight, but still...

James glanced over at his friend. "Yes, she did leave rather suddenly. I heard her saying something about needing to see Professor Estrella, but I couldn't remember her having any extra credit assignments. I suppose you made that up for her?"

Sirius chuckled. "How'd you guess? But seriously, it was rather important that she leave, only Cinna would never have bought her excuse..."

James rolled his eyes. "Well, I know you're just dying to tell me where she went, so come on. Out with it, then."

"She went to go find Remus." No reaction. He was disappointed. "That doesn't upset you at all?"

"No, since I know you're just saying it to cause trouble."

Sirius looked at the sky, thoughtfully. "Yes, that's true. But she did go to find Remus."

"Well then, she must have had a good reason," James replied, getting a bit irritated with his friend. He loved Sirius like a brother, but it seemed that he could never be... well... serious.

"She did." Sirius nodded sagely, suddenly somber. "Actually, we thought that maybe he had plans to hurt himself."

James looked like he'd been hit in the stomach by a brand new Cleansweep Two. "Oh no. Do you think he's okay? Should we go look for him?"

"Well, I imagine Lily would have let us know if he wasn't okay. At this point, it might do more harm than good for you to go looking for them, anyway. I'm sure he's fine. Still and all..." he looked at his friend. "This thing, with you and her... it's causing a bit of a row. D'you reckon she's really worth it?"

James looked at him as though seeing him for the first time. Just when he thought he'd never be sincere... "I think so, yes. I mean, I love her."

Sirius looked at him sympathetically. "Aye, mate. But so does he."

She met him out on the Quidditch pitch at dusk, just as the Gryffindors' practice was ending. She didn't want to spring this on him while he was exhausted, of course, but she figured she'd never get to talk to him privately tonight unless they made plans to meet somewhere later. He waved at her enthusiastically, then came swooshing over, hovering an inch away from her face. His practice robes were soaked with sweat, and his hair was - surprise, surprise - an unruly mess. But he gave her a devilish grin, his brown eyes twinkling, and her stomach suddenly seemed to have tied up in knots.

She steeled herself. "James." She said it more as a statement than a greeting. "I need to talk to you, later tonight... privately, if it's possible."

He looked at her as though he didn't know whether to be worried or pleased. "Okay," he said slowly. Then the mischievous look returned. "We probably better not meet in the Common Room, though."

"Well, obviously, if we want to keep the conversation just between you and me." She saw the look on his face and realised it was not that that he was talking about - the corner of his mouth was curled up just so, and his eyes just had that look about them. "James Potter, what did you do?"

"Well, we wanted to thank Ryan for the good job he's been doing so far as chaser..." Ryan MacAllister was the newest member of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, a third year. From what James had told Lily, he was insufferable at times, always acting as though he knew everything there was to know about Quidditch. "So, we gave him a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans." He looked around furtively. "We've been collecting all the nasty flavored ones for a month now. I think the best one he'll find in there is toe jam... anyway, I want to be as far away from the common room as I can when he realises what we've done." Even as he said this, Lily thought that he would very much like to be around when Ryan bit into the first few and found them to be tripe, dandruff, mold, lint or rotten mango.

She made a face, trying not to burst out laughing. "That's horrible. Funny, but horrible. Has he really been that bad?"

James nodded madly. "Worse, if you can believe it."

She laughed, shaking her head. "How did you know what all of them were, even? Sometimes the colours are misleading..."

"Oh, that." He smiled brightly. "It's a bit tricky, but I found a way to bewitch the bag into telling you what you've pulled out."

She considered this for a moment. "Well, that's clever... good job you don't apply yourself as much to your schoolwork as you do your pranks, or I'd not have the best grades in the house." He looked at her with mock indigence, but it quickly faded back into his usual lopsided grin. "Speaking of, I've got to write a scroll on memory potions for Cinna by next class, so I'll probably be in the library most of the night, that's probably the best place to talk anyway. I'll be in the usual spot."

"Okay. I'll come by around eight? Nine?"

She nodded. "I'll be ready for a break by then, I think. In the meantime - you could probably do with a shower." She was halfway across the Quidditch pitch when he zoomed over and tapped her on the arm.

"One more thing, before you go..." She turned, but before she could say anything, he had leaned down and planted a soft kiss on her lips.

She looked up at him, slightly flustered. "Oh, right. I'll keep that in mind, then." He flew off and she continued her walk back to the halls of Hogwarts, laughing to herself as she watched him turning somersaults on his broomstick.


	4. Unlikely Partners

Disclaimer: The First few chapters of this story aren't mine they belong to Aloha Moria of She never finished it three years ago… and I love it to pieces. So in response I am going to finish it how I see it ending.

Thank you for reading!

Author notes: PLEASE REVIEW! i will love you all if you do! 

Unlikely Partners

Lily smiled, quite pleased with herself. Her scroll, three inches longer than it had to be, was finished, and it hadn't taken her nearly as long as she had thought it might. She knew she had mostly Remus to thank for that, though. After she'd told him of her extra assignment, he'd offered to look for some books on the subject, and the one that he'd found had proven to be quite helpful. She looked over the neatly written lines, searching for flaws with a handy little charm she'd come up with two years ago. Although "Spellcheckulus" didn't save her a lot of time, as she was naturally quite good at that kind of thing, Sirius found it to be a lifesaver.

She pulled out the pocket watch that she always carried in her robes, a gift from her parents. Though they were Muggles themselves, they were fascinated by the magical world, and bought all her birthday presents in Diagon Alley. This one was particularly nice - it had no hands at all, but whenever you looked at it, a little message would flash on the face in fancy scrollwork. At present, it said, Five minutes since the last time you checked. It went black for a moment, then another message: He won't be here for at least another hour, you might as well find something else to do than work me to death. She decided to take its advice, and wondered if her parents would be amused to know that they had selected such a sarcastic gift.

Well, she thought, Remus helped me out a lot with that last scroll, perhaps I can help him, somehow. She set to work at some advanced potions texts, hoping that there might be some draught that could at least make his monthly changes less painful. One volume of "Magical Cures for Every Ailment" gave a recipe for decreasing libido, of which she made a note, but aside from that, there was very little.

She went at it for another hour, and had just stumbled across a pamphlet entitled "Treatments for victims of Transmogrification Torture" when she saw James approaching. She took a few deep breaths and then readied herself.

"Hi there, Evvie." He came down and sat next to her at the long table she usually used to study at (most students just used the little enclosed desks along the walls, but Lily found that it was more helpful to be able to spread out five books at once and look at things that way). "Did you finish your scroll? I've brought my notes from the seminar we went to last year on forgetfulness. I'm pretty sure there was a page or two on memory potions. Thought it might help."

She was touched, and more than a bit surprised that he had thought to bring her his notes. To be honest, she had quite forgotten about that particular seminar, but then, they had gone to so many. "Oh. Well, I've finished, but I'll look through them, maybe there's something I can add..."

He shrugged. "If you're already done, don't bother. You've probably covered all the main points and then some as it is, knowing you." That was the main difference between him and Lily, academically, he thought. Not that he didn't do a thorough job on his schoolwork, but there was always a point for him at which he though, Alright, I'm done. Lily, on the other hand, would work on even a simple assignment tirelessly for days, if you let her; she always seemed to feel that she could do more to improve it. In fact, on essay exams, teachers often had to pry her paper out of her hands when time was called, to keep her from writing more. He wasn't sure whether this was a good quality or a bad one, but it certainly had earned her top marks. "Besides, you wanted a break. So what was it you wanted to talk about?"

Lily thought he didn't seem quite like his usual cheery self tonight. After a few moments of pondering this, though, she decided that his face looked more tired than gloomy. Probably a long Quidditch practice. Though he had a reputation as being a tough captain, he had earned the respect of his teammates working himself as hard or harder as anyone else. Then again, maybe all those somersaults tired him out, she thought.

"Right, that." Now that the time had come to actually go through with this, she wanted to put it off as long as possible. Come on, get to it, Lily, she thought. "Well, the thing is..." What was it she had decided to say? "I'm just not sure we're being fair to Remus."

James heaved a huge sigh. "I know. I've been thinking about that too, and... I feel really badly about how this all happened. I should have waited until he'd talked to you, I know. I shouldn't have done that to him." He met her gaze and held it for a few moments, then continued. "I shouldn't have done it to you either. I put you in an unfair situation, I know..." He looked down at the ground. "Didn't really give you time to make up your mind, did I?"

She closed her eyes and tilted her head to the ceiling. "It's not really that, it's just that... I can't stand to see myself coming between you and Remus, and..." She decided she might as well be honest, since he seemed to have guessed what the larger trouble was. "As long as I'm still having some doubts... I just need some more time to think before I end up causing a real row between you two. Besides, I don't want to string you along..."

He nodded. "I understand. I mean, I can't be too upset, it's my fault we're in this situation now anyway, isn't it?" His large brown eyes were sad, now. He tried to joke. "So, I guess I'll have to find myself another bench partner for Potions, eh? I wonder if that Elisabeth girl would mind..."

She glared at him, even though she knew he was only trying to lighten the mood. "James Potter, don't you dare! We make too good a team..." She had only meant it academically, but as soon as the words came out of her mouth she wished she could take them back. An uncomfortable silence enveloped them. "Maybe I should go, now," she said, softly, a few minutes later.

"No, it's okay... please, stay here, finish up whatever you were working on. I'll go." Before she could argue, he had disappeared into the stacks. She buried her face in her hands. Well, that went smashingly... she sat there feeling sorry for herself for a few minutes and then decided, as she had done so many times, to throw herself into her work to take her mind off of things. Right. Transmogrification torture...

But three hours later, she was frustrated to find that she was no closer to finding a potion to quell the symptoms of lycanthropy. "Damn it," she muttered under her breath. "Everything useful must be in the Restricted Section. I'll have to talk to Cinna." She put all her things away and trudged back up to Gryffindor Tower, dearly hoping she would be able to avoid James - and Remus - for the rest of the night.

"And, I was wondering if you might give me permission to search the Restricted Section for cures - any information would be helpful, really, even old wives' remedies. Sometimes they have some use, and I think it would be really interesting." She looked up at him eagerly. The excuse Sirius had suggested for this occasion was elegant, really. An extra credit assignment for Defense Against the Dark Arts - it involved nothing special, no cooperation from other teachers, no other excuses.

He smiled at her, but not cruelly. "That's a fabulous story, Miss Evans, but I am afraid it is wasted on me." She gulped. He saw the look on her face and continued, even more kindly. "No, no, you're not in trouble, don't worry. I was wondering when you'd come to me, actually - I suppose Remus has told you about his affliction, and now you want to help. I've always found that terribly admirable in you Gryffindors, to tell you the truth, that insatiable desire to assist your friends..." He sighed and adjusted his robes slightly. "Well, I've been working with one of my better students on a solution for a few months, but it seems we are at an impasse. If you think you would like to join him, I am sure he would welcome a fresh perspective." He gave her a thin, but genuine, smile. "I think you can be trusted, and you have shown some talent for potions, have you not?"

Lily nodded. She would have said more had she not been so thoroughly surprised, first that Cinna could be so kind, and second that someone was already working on it. It couldn't be another Gryffindor, even a seventh year, or she would have heard. James had the best potions mark in the house, aside from her, and surely, he would have told her if he was working on something to help Remus. Maybe Elisabeth Norris? No, no, Cinna had said it was a he. And Hufflepuffs - well, not to discriminate, but they were almost famous for their ineptitude at potions.

"He's in the dungeon right now, would you like to go down and give him your thoughts? As you seem to be lost in them..."

She snapped out of her reverie. "Oh, yes, that would be lovely." She followed him down a dark staircase, then through a corridor with a series of complicated, magical locks. I'll have to remember these charms, she thought a bit distractedly.

Cinna then came to a plain, unassuming door, which he unlocked with a very curious-looking skeleton key. "He's in there. I trust you'll need no introduction... he'll tell you what we've been working on so far. I, meanwhile, must get back to my lesson plans. Good luck, Miss Evans."

Lily walked into the cavernous room, amazed at the sight that surrounded her. The room was lined on three of its five walls with huge shelves, stacked to the ceiling, filled with every kind of herb and magical ingredient she had ever heard of (and some she had not - powdered vesiculosus, what on earth was that?). Everything was neatly labeled, in Cinna's crooked hand, and from what she could tell, it seemed to be in perfect alphabetical order. Alphabetical order was, for some reason that she could not explain, one of the few things that absolutely tickled Lily pink. The other two walls had been fitted with long benches, which boasted built in, self stirring, self-heating cauldrons, and more tall shelves above, filled with books of every kind, and even more unusual looking substances. A pungent, but rather pleasant aroma, something like cloves, hung in the air. She felt as though she had died and gone to Potions heaven.

Then she noticed the boy standing at one of the benches. Even though she could barely make out his profile from across the room, she recognized the hooked nose and greasy black hair. He had not turned around since she had entered, but he must have heard the tail end of her conversation with Cinna. "Lily Evans?" he said coldly, almost with a sneer. "I'm supposed to work on lycanthropy cures with Lily Evans?"

She didn't reply for a moment, closing her eyes and counting to ten in Latin. "Severus -" this marked the first time she had called him by his first name - "we're going to be working together for a while, I think, so we might as well try to be civil to one another. I know you have a certain... distaste for all things Gryffindor, but if you give me a chance you might find that I can help."

He sniffed at her. "If you say so," he said, in a voice almost as greasy as his hair.

Her temper flared. "Look, Snape, I know you think you're God's gift to potions, and I've heard you're good, but I'm damn good too. You would do well to learn to respect me early - now I've got all these ingredients at my disposal, I could concoct some rather unpleasant draughts to prove my worth, if you know what I mean."

"Are you threatening me?" his voice was even, but Lily could sense that she had made him nervous.

"No, but I will if I need to." She took a breath. "Look, I didn't want to start on the wrong foot. If you don't want to work with me, that's fine, I won't get in your way. But would you at least point me in the right direction in terms of books?" He waved his hand lazily at the pile of thick, leather-bound volumes on his bench. "Thank you." She took one of the tomes from the middle of the stack and sat down at the other bench, scanning the pages quickly. Soon she had her quills out, and was chewing on the end of one, deep in thought. She had just reached into her satchel for a scroll of parchment, to begin taking some preliminary notes, when Snape finally spoke again.

"Why'd you want to work on this, anyway?"

She looked up. "So now you're talking to me again?" He said nothing. "I just find it interesting, that's all. Besides, I've heard the symptoms can be dreadful... I really feel sorry for them."

"Oh. Nothing to do with Lupin then?" She coughed. "Or didn't you think I knew? Cinna tried to keep it from me, of course, but when he came in for us to test the medicines on, I caught on. Needless to say, he made me promise not to tell anyone."

"You haven't, have you?" Lily asked, suddenly terrified.

"Of course not, I'd be expelled as well if I told. He's been here five years and hasn't attacked anyone, why should I care if he is allowed to stay? Besides," he continued, "they've been bribing me with a teaching position here in a few years. Cinna's retiring soon, everyone knows that, so they've been recruiting." He saw a look of mild jealousy flicker across her face. "Oh don't worry, they're looking at you for Charms. Something in the Ministry, I've heard."

She smiled, much against her will. "Must be nice to be in on all this faculty chatter," she observed.

He shrugged. "It can be useful." He turned and resumed his work, and she quickly picked up with her reading. After about ten minutes, she spoke again.

"Do you know if we've got werewolves' blood in here?"

He looked at her suspiciously. "Why?"

"Well," she said, "There's a few accounts in this book of werewolves who were bitten twice, by two different creatures, and it says their symptoms became weaker. Not a full cure, of course, but it's a start. I almost wonder if it hasn't got something to do with antibodies..." She stared down at the bench, biting her lip, her brow furrowed. Anyone who knew Lily well - or even anyone who had just seen her studying once or twice - knew that this was a sign of the gears turning double quick in her head.

He glared at her condescendingly. "Antibodies?"

"Oh, right. It's something the Muggles discovered a couple decades ago, they've been really useful for vaccinations against diseases. It's rather brilliant, how it works, actually..." she was about to launch into a full-fledged lecture on immunology when Snape cut her off.

"You're going to try to use Muggle medicine to cure a disease that is magical in its very nature?" He spat out the word "Muggle" as though the word itself was a disease. Lily's nostrils flared, but she held her tongue in check. "Oh, that's right," he continued absentmindedly. "I almost forgot. You're a Mudblood."

This was the last straw. Okay, she thought, you asked for it. "Petrificus Totalus!" she bellowed, before he even realised she had her wand out. He fell, like a stone, to the ground. The distasteful look which had been on his face remained, and Lily laughed softly. "Didn't your parents ever tell you not to pull faces, as someday they might freeze that way?" She paused, then added wickedly, "But how silly of me to have forgotten. You always go about looking as though you've just smelled troll poo on your shoes."

He narrowed his eyes at her, and she suspected he would have made other gestures had his eyes not been the only bits of him that could still move. "Now. I know the countercurse for this, and I'm not cruel - or stupid - enough to leave you frozen there. BUT, before I let you go, I want you to promise me you will never, ever use that word in my presence again. Blink twice if you agree." He only stared.

"Ah, very well." She pulled out her wand, and made as though to cast the countercurse. Then she stopped. "Oh, drat. I keep mixing these up... is it 'Tarantellegra?' It's a shame I can't remember exactly, since I've heard it's quite painful to have your legs try to two-step while you can't move them..." His eyes widened. "Perhaps I would remember the right one if you apologised... and promised me what I want?" He began to blink furiously. "Ah, that's what I thought." She waved her wand lazily, muttering the proper countercurse.

He jumped to his feet, brandishing his wand, but she still had hers pointed at him. "I wouldn't try it, Snape. I'm better than you at charms as it is, and I'd wager I'm a bit quicker with the wand too." As he pondered this for a moment, she shouted, "Expelliarmus!" His wand went flying across the dungeon, and she smiled, triumphant. "You see what I mean?"

He looked disgusted with himself for allowing her to disarm him. "Oh, go back to what you were working on. The endibuddies or whatever."

She didn't bother to correct him, but she did take his advice. She began to write on her scroll: Mix blood of another werewolf with wolfsbane? Must be first step. Then something with healing properties (unicorn tail hair or horn powder?) Look up ingredients from anti-fur, anti-Transmogrification and calming potions. She smiled to herself. She would have to experiment before this would do any good, she knew, but she felt she was on the right track. It was a good start.


End file.
